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Brown Professor Suspects Majority of His Class Used AI To Cheat

Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from Inside Higher Ed: For the first time since he started teaching Welfare Economics and Social Choice Theory nearly two decades ago, Brown University economics professor Roberto Serrano gave his students a take-home midterm this spring. Quite a few students had expressed anxiety about being in a classroom after a gunman killed two students and injured nine in a December mass shooting at Brown, and so "it was appropriate," he said, to allow students to take their exams at home. But by the end of the semester, Serrano regretted the decision. Dozens of students in the class likely used artificial intelligence to cheat and earn perfect or near-perfect scores on their midterm, he said. Serrano in turn made the final exam in-person, which led more than a dozen students to drop the course and even more to fail it.

Administrators' response to the widespread cheating event has been "meek," he said, and the incident has raised questions about how universities can -- and should -- respond to AI-enabled cheating at scale. "I am not declaring [the midterm] void for now. I am going to give the class a chance to prove me wrong," he wrote. "That is, if the distribution of the final exam is roughly similar to the distribution of the midterm, I will count the midterm. Otherwise, which is of course what I expect to happen, I will declare the midterm void and reweigh the final accordingly." Serrano heard crickets from his students, but 18 of them subsequently dropped the class. Nine students remained enrolled but did not take the final exam. And Serrano said the results proved him right; three students earned a zero, and the average score on the final was 48.6 percent -- by far a historic low, he said. Previously, the average final exam score had never dropped below 65 percent. Only a few students scored similarly to how they did on the midterm.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Russia Hacks Doorbell Cameras To Spy On NATO Bases

Dutch intelligence agencies say Russian hackers have been hijacking unsecured internet-connected cameras, including likely doorbell and security cameras, to spy on NATO military bases and transport routes used to move weapons to Ukraine. "Organisations with IP [internet protocol] cameras on these routes have now been warned so that they could take action," said the AIVD domestic security and MIVD military intelligence agencies. Targeted NATO member states include the Netherlands and Ukraine. The Telegraph reports: While the intelligence agencies did not specify the type of cameras hacked, the doorbell systems are frequently used by people to monitor their property from mobile phones. Hackers then use readily available apps to scan for devices that might be accessible. The Dutch investigation found that many of the cameras were unsecured, and "often have standard passwords, outdated firmware and standard configurations." They said: "When the IP camera is identified, the malicious party can attempt to access the IP camera via the internet. This is often relatively easy, because many IP cameras connected to the internet are insufficiently secure."

[...] The practice is now considered easier and cheaper than using drones and satellites to gather intelligence. It also aids operational surprise because most camera owners are blissfully unaware their devices have been penetrated by hackers. Ground-based cameras offer a unique perspective on the terrain, which isn't the case with conventional aerial-based spy kit.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Rocky Shoreline at Petrel Cove

Stereo Solstice has added a photo to the pool:

Rocky Shoreline at Petrel Cove

A long exposure photograph of the rugged coastline at Petrel Cove on the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia. Rounded coastal boulders and jagged rock formations frame the view towards West Island beneath dramatic clouds, while the flowing water softens the foreground.

After the March, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

Tasmanian.Kris has added a photo to the pool:

After the March, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

People drifting back into the street grid, signs lowered but not gone. The city resumes, but not unchanged. Protest doesn’t end when the march does. It carries on, step by step. Guess which of these clowns was at the smaller, racist "Aussie Pride" rally.

Say It Plain, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

Tasmanian.Kris has added a photo to the pool:

Say It Plain, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

At the mic, flag beside them, words landing into a crowd that knows exactly what’s at stake. No soft language, no hedging. Invasion Day means something, and it’s being said out loud.

Hands Up, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

Tasmanian.Kris has added a photo to the pool:

Hands Up, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

Arms raised, fists clenched, a collective gesture that needs no explanation. The light catches just enough to separate bodies from the crowd. Solidarity looks like this. Not abstract, not polite.

Listening Space, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

Tasmanian.Kris has added a photo to the pool:

Listening Space, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

Hats, shoulders, backs of signs, all turned toward a voice you can’t see but can feel. Protest has its own geometry. Attention focused, energy held, waiting for the next word to land.

Blak and Loud, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

Tasmanian.Kris has added a photo to the pool:

Blak and Loud, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

Flags, tent, crowd, all packed tight into one small patch of park. Community in full view, not asking permission. You don’t tidy this kind of frame. You let it breathe.

Flags Up Front, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania..

Tasmanian.Kris has added a photo to the pool:

Flags Up Front, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania..

Blak, red, yellow cutting through the crowd, impossible to miss and not meant to be. This isn’t decoration. It’s presence, history, refusal. The kind of frame where colour carries the argument.

March Moves, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

Tasmanian.Kris has added a photo to the pool:

March Moves, Invasion Day Rally 2026. Hobart, Tasmania.

Bodies in motion, signs held high, the whole thing moving with purpose down a city that still hasn’t settled its past. You feel it more than you compose it. Sometimes the job is just to keep up and stay out of the way.

15094 20260709_151414 hydrangea cropped

iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

15094 20260709_151414 hydrangea cropped

15095 20260711_085547 The light catches the plant adjusted

iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

15095 20260711_085547 The light catches the plant adjusted

15093 20260710_112822 Leaves in sunlight landscape view

iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

15093 20260710_112822 Leaves in sunlight landscape view

So Give My Best to Anyone Who's Left

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

So Give My Best to Anyone Who's Left

But What the Hell?

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

But What the Hell?

Corine Vermeulen

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Corine Vermeulen

Found Slide, The Morgan Collection

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Found Slide, The Morgan Collection

I Met a Lady, Her Name Was Shady Sides

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

I Met a Lady, Her Name Was Shady Sides

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